Method of forming composite



Feb. 17, 1942.

J. E. BATIE METHOD OF FORMING COMPSITE`ARTICLES Filed Nov. 27, 1939 2 Sheets-SheetV 1 INVENTOR. A JOSEPH l5. BATIE vATTORNEYS Feb. 17, 1942.

J. E. BA'nE 2,273,614

METHOD OF FORMING COMPOSITEARTIGLES Filed Nov. 2v, 1939 2 sheets-sheet'z Il\\\\f //f\ le4 I8 lill/Ilm INVENTOR.

JOSEPH E. BATIE Patented Feb. 17, 1942 METHOD 0F FORMING COMPOSITE ARTICLES Joseph E. Batic, Detroit, Mich., assigner to Kelsoy-Hayes Wheel Company, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application November 27, 1939, Serial No. 306,41-9

6 Claims.

The invention relates to the manufacture of composite articles and refers more particularly to the manufacture of composite brake drums.

The invention has for an object the economical manufacture of a composite article and more particularly a composite brake drum in a manner to secure the fusing of the materials together.

The invention has for other objects the heating of the annular ange of the shell of the composite article while it is substantially free of external heat conducting support to thereby greatly reduce the dissipation of the heat; the tuing of the annular flange to correct any distortion thereof resulting from the heating prior to the casting of the liner in the annular flange; and

the supporting of the annular ange externally during the casting to retain the shape of the annular flange.V

The invention has for further objects the directing of the flame for heating the annular f flange in a direction to reduce the harmful imp ingement oi the flame upon the air excluding coatinglon the` annular flange; the guiding of the flame to pass over the complete inner surface of the annular flange to completely heat the same; and to cast the liner material in a manner to avoid trapping of air.

These and other objects of the invention `will become apparent from lthe following description,

taken in connection with the accompanying 111 The invention is particularly applicable to the 'A manufacture of composite brake drums of the type illustrated in Figure 9. l is the wrought metal shell o-f the drum. The shell 'is preferably formed from sheet steel by a suitable drawing operation vand has the annular flange 2 which is generally cylindrical and the web 3 which extends generally radially inwardly from an edge of the annular flange. The annular flange is formed with the generally cylindrical portion 4 connecting into the web and with the enlarged 'lli generally cylindrical portion 5 connecting into the portion 4. 6 is a cast iron liner within and fused to the portions 4 and 5 of the annular flange and also to the peripheral part of the web. The edge of the enlarged portion 5 extends beyond the free end of the liner and extends generally axially.

In the manufacture of the brake drum the wrought metal shell is preferably drawn from a fiat sheet steel blank into the shape shown in Figure l., in which it will be noted that the enlarged generally cylindrical portion 5 has at its free edge the flaredportion 1.

Afterr the shell of Figure l is formed,- it is then coated with a suitable ux, such as borax, boric acid, soda ash, or other salt having sunicient density to withstand the wash of the flame subsequently used in heating the annular flange of the shell. This coating is preferably accomplished by passing the shell through a ux bath. The coating serves to exclude air from the shell both before and during the subsequent heating and also to assist in fusing or niolecularly bonding the cast iron liner to the shell during the subsequent casting.

The coated shell is then placed in a suitable apparatus diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4 and axially moved outwardly to a position in which there is play or clearance between the flared portion 1 and the sealing element Sof the apparatus by suitable means, such as the abutment 9 ofthe apparatus, which engages the central portion of the web. At this time the sealing element and the abutment and also the shell are rotated in unison and during the rotation the annular flange of the shell is heated by means of the iiame l0 which is produced by gas passing from a series of gas jets of the burner il which has been. inserted inside the shell. The flame is directed in the general direction of rotation of the shell to reduce its harmful impingement upon the coating on the inner surface ofthe annular' flange to thereby avoid devstroying the coating. During the heating, the

sealing element and the web Vof the shell serve to retain the flame inside the shell and the sealing element also directs the llame so that it passes lover the flared portion 1, the play or clearance between the liar-ed portion and sealing element being sufficient for this purpose. As a result, the flame cornes in contact with the whole inner area of the annular vflange thereby more uniformly heating the salme. v It will be noted that during the heating the flange is free from external neat conducting support so that heat dissipation is reduced to the minimum. The heating is continued until the annular fiange reaches a temperature of approximately 1300 F.

The sealing element 8 comprises the annular metal adaptor 8 and the metal sealing ring 82, the latter being coated with suitable heat resistant material, such as a material having a carbon base and a molasses binder. The material which I have found to be very satisfactory is formed by adding in a mixer while in operation the following ingredients in the following proportions: one quart of molasses to twenty-seven quarts of water, then fifty pounds of Face-A- Mould, which is gradually added, and finally slightly less than one quart of Hitempite solution, all being thoroughly mixed. The coated sealing ring is inserted into the adaptor ring before the flux coated shell is placed in the apparatus.

After the heating, the annular flange 2 of the shell is trued by correcting any distortion thereof caused by the heat. The truing also sizes the flange. This is accomplished by axially moving forwardly the external support I2 of the apparatus to externally engage the flange 2 in peripherally spaced Zones and to also engage the flared portion I and to tightly clamp this flared portion against the sealing element 8. The external support rotates With the sealing element, the abutment 9, and the shell. The burner having been removed, the ladle I3 is immediately brought into operative position inside the shell, the parts at this time being in the positions diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 3. Each ladle is tilted to pour the predetermined quantity of the molten iron at a temperature in the neighborhood of 2700" F. to 3000 F. contained by the ladle against the inner surface of the annular flange of the shell, the rotation continuing until the molten iron has cooled sufficiently to solidify to allow the removal of the lined shell. The sealing element, in addition to preventing the fiying out of the molten iron past the flared portion 1 of the shell, forms a dam preventing the molten iron from coming into contact with the flared portion. After the molten iron has been poured and has sufficiently solidified, the external support I2 is axially disengaged from the shell and the abutment 9 is axially drawn or forced back so that the lined shell may be Withdrawn from i the apparatus. The sealing ring 82 used in forming the lined shell is Withdrawn with the lined shell and then separated therefrom.

For the purpose of preventing trapping of air in the enlarged generally cylindrical portion of the annular flange during the casting, the mouth `of the ladle is shaped to pour the molten iron first into the enlarged generally cylindrical portion and then into the generally cylindrical portion 4. As shown, the mouth of the ladle is formed with the notch I4 for this purpose.

The lined shell is next suitably operated upon to remove the inner face of the liner 6, thereby removing any impurities in the liner. Also the flared portion 'I is refashioned to extend axially. The final product is then as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 5 discloses another way of holding the brake drum shell during the internal heating of its annular flange. The shell in this instance, as shown, has at its free edge the radially extending annular flange I5 which is adapted to be held against the angularly spaced fingers I6 by means of the abutment I1 which engages the central portion of the web of the shell. There are Preferably three equidistant fingers which are movable with the support I8 and which in the retracted position of the support hold the brake drum shell spaced from the sealing element I9, Which latter is stationary. With this arrangement it will be seen that the burner flame impinges completely over the inner surface of the annular flange of the shell and passes outwardly between its radial flange and the sealing element and passes over practically the complete outer face of the radial fiange.

As illustrated in Figure 6, the annular flange of the shell is externally supported at peripherally spaced points by the support I8 which is advanced and this support, in addition, clamps the radial flange of the shell against the sealing element so that when the molten iron is poured against the inner face of the annular fiange of the shell it cannot escape. The fingers I6 are advanced with the support and permit the radial flange of the shell to come into contact with the sealing element. To avoid detrimental chilling of the portion of the molten iron coming into contact with the sealing element, the metal sealing ring forming part of the sealing element is preferably provided with the filler ring 20 which is formed of suitable material.

As illustrated in Figure 7, the free edge portion of the shell during the internal heating of its annular flange is held spaced from the sealing element 2I by means of lthe angularly spaced fingers 22 which are engageable with the radially extending annular flange at the free edge of the shell. There are preferably three of these fingers and each is pivotally mounted at its middle and resiliently urged in a direction to engage the radial flange of the shell by suitable means, such as the coil spring 23, acting upon the tension member 24 which is connected to the end of the finger opposite that engaging the radial flange.

As illustrated in Figure 8, the annular flange of the shell is externally supported at peripherally spaced points by means of the support 24 which is adapted to be advanced after the heating operation and which clamps the radial flange of the shell against the sealing element, the fingers swinging under the resistance of their springs to permit the clamping.

The sealing rings of both sealing elements I9 and 2I are insertable into place so that they can be replaced after each casting step.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The method of forming a lined brake drum, comprising providing a Wrought metal shell having an annular ange With a generally cylindrical portion and a generally radial portion at one edge thereof, rotating said shell, and while rotating the shell carrying out the steps of heating the annular flange by passing a flame over substantially the entire inner surfaces of the generally cylindrical and radial portions, determining the size of and supporting the generally cylindrical portion and also clamping the generally radial portion against a sealing element by engaging an annular member with the outer surface of the generally cylindrical portion and with the generally radial portion, and pouring molten iron against the inner surface of the generally cylindrical portion while externally supporting the same and also while the sealing element protects the generally radial portion and forms a dam for retaining the molten iron.

2. The method of forming a lined brake drum, comprising providing a shell having an annular flange, rotating the shell in one direction with a protective coating on the inner side of the hange, directing a'lflame on the inner surface inner surface of the portion of greater diamete only.

4. The method of forming a lined brake drum,

comprising providing a shell having an annular flange .with a generally radially extending portion at its free edge, rotating said shell,direct ing a flame on the inner surface of the flange during rotation of the shell, guiding the flame by a sealing element to pass over the generally radially extending portion, relatively moving the shell and sealing element to bring the generally radially extending portion into contact with the' sealing element, and pouring molten metal against the inner surface of the ange during the rotation of the shell. J r

5. The method of forming a composite article comprising providing a shell having an annular portion, heating the annular portion, meanwhile rotating said shell and supporting the shell independently of the external surface of the an,- nular portion, then pouring uid liner material within andagainst the heated annular portion,

and meanwhile rotating the shell and holding the heated annular portion from distortion.

6. 'I'he method of forming a composite article comprising providing a shell having an annular portion, rotating the shell and during the rotation directing a flame on the inner surface of the annular portion, meanwhile supporting the shell independently of the external surface of` theannular portion thereof, then pouring fluid liner material within and against the heated annular portion, and meanwhile controlling the ow of the fluid liner material to retain the same withinthe heated annular portion with an end portion spaced from an end portion of the heated annular portion to forma groove, holding the annular portion from distortion,k and rotating the shell.

` JOSEPH E. BATIE. 

